Turning Point
by PuppyLuvr06
Summary: In order to find the pieces and begin solving the puzzle, the past must be uncovered and long-kept family secrets must be told. Seeds are starting to take root for the things to come... Nothing can stay hidden forever, whether it's best left alone or not. [semi-AU]
1. Chapter 1

((A/N: This is meant to mark the small switch from the plots from my previous two stories, Controlled by Fate and Untold Truths, and the next few stories to come. You _will not_ have to read the forementioned stories, though! That's what the handy-dandy recap below is for.))

{-Alfonse-}

He couldn't think of anything that could properly describe the past five months, besides being a complete mess.

It started when the Order received reports of missing people. Upon closer investigation, though, it turned out to be much more complicated than that; creatures under the alias of "nightmares" had came into their world with an intention of leaving nothing behind. The four of them—Alfonse, Sharena, Anna, and the Summoner, Fauna—spent the New Year's traveling to the home of these nightmares in hopes of stopping them. One night, Alfonse caught Sharena up late and she admitted to having odd dreams that generally left her feeling like she hadn't slept at all (much later she told Anna about this as well, though Fauna more or less stayed in the dark about it until a few weeks after their adventure). When they were finally there, they were confronted with a bit more of an explanation of what they were doing. The world of nightmares had a reputation for toying with the minds of whoever dared to enter…something they found out in the final days of their stay there. They had their first encounter with Natheniel, a boy directly related to the nightmares, and soon after faced the beast of the world—which looked like nothing more than an ink blot—and returned back in Askr. The adventure took two months, and another two months were spent trying to find Natheniel.

Turns out, Natheniel more or less came to them; from what Alfonse had been told, since he was out on his own little quest that week. Natheniel told the girls more about the nightmares and their nature. A few days after arriving, though, Natheniel disappeared—taking the "heart" of the beast from the world of nightmares with him, and leaving his feather necklace as a way for them to know if he was still in their world. About a week later, as they were coming back from meeting Enn (a young woman, whom Alfonse had traveled with while the others were dealing with Natheniel. She was definitely an adventurous spirit, and since introducing the others to her, they'd visited her family quite often as their records and books proved to hold use to the Order), the feather necklace was gone and they knew Natheniel had left.

To add onto the amount of things currently going on, a few days ago, Alfonse and Sharena had uncovered an odd message from a stack of papers he had found on his trip with Enn. What it read as a whole was simple:

'We were told we would be given time, but the only thing they had given us was loss. Tell everyone that we will not stand for this; we shall supply with our own the blood that our god desires. The time of silence is over, and when we are done, only the faithful and the truthful will remain.'

At first it had bothered Alfonse that he didn't know what it was. But now that it was revealed, he was more bothered by how they found it out. Sharena had listed the words, and with very little effort or thought, Alfonse figured out what order to arrange the words in. He didn't know how he did it and the feeling that he should know or that he was just forgetting something was concerning him. Alfonse barely thought about what the message could've possibly meant as he found himself too busy worrying about how he'd figured it out. Sharena just reassured him by saying "You probably just read it somewhere." but he knew that wasn't the case. Only the two of them knew about it, but along with whatever Anna requested them to look into while at Enn's, they tried looking into that as well.

Of course, it didn't help his state of mind any to feel like Anna knew a lot more about the nightmares than she let on. Both Sharena and Fauna had informed him that Natheniel had, in fact, talked to their commander personally and that none of them knew what the two had talked about. Anna was keeping them busy with all sorts of tasks—very few of them seemed to be related to anything that had happened recently. She seemed to be preparing for something but she never gave a straightforward answer as to what it was, and it was growing quite clear she was losing sleep over the situation as well. It wasn't uncommon for her to be like this during a particularly stressful time but the fact that, to almost everyone else, it wasn't necessary and everything was at enough peace as it could be at the moment made it that much more concerning. Of all the times for her to keep quiet about her reasoning, now was definitely not the best.

But besides everything else, things were normal. Sharena and Fauna, at least, didn't seem to completely mind the changes (although the latter wasn't happy that, as a remarkably light sleeper, Anna's late night fussing was resulting in her own lack of rest on their nights sleeping at the Order's castle). Alfonse simply continued doing what he was told and hoped that they'd be given some sort of reason for why they were doing it.

Today was oddly quiet. Less Heroes were out, but that could just mean most of them were still asleep. Fauna was giving out instructions to the few that were awake.

She noticed him as soon as she finished with the Heroes, waving them off before walking over to him. "Morning, Alfonse," Fauna greeted warmly. "You slept better than I did, I hope?"

Alfonse nodded. "Do you know if Sharena's up yet?"

"I think she's still sleeping. She was when I passed by her room, at least." She yawned. "In the meantime, care to join me? I want to get as much stuff off of Anna's to-do list as possible before she wakes up—maybe even the whole thing. Whatever stops her from staying up all night and hopefully puts her back in a normal sleep schedule."

"I'm at your service," he agreed. At this point, it was a bit hard not to agree to help with something that would benefit their commander; her determination to complete certain tasks often disregarded her own health and wellbeing, and while it was quite selfless of her to do so, it was also pretty foolish given her position in the Order.

"Glad to have you!" Fauna began walking and gestured for him to follow her. "I'm also short so it's nice to have a tall person around."

…

They spent a good deal of the morning together in silence. Eventually, Fauna decided to strike up a conversation.

"So…what's your take on all of this? I get it that half of this is apparently normal for you three but it's not for just about everyone else. Thinking about what might be coming…it's freaking me out, to say the least."

"If you're looking for motivation, I'm definitely not the one to be turning to," he pointed out. "I don't know any more of the situation than you do. With any luck, things will calm down soon or she'd finally tell us what's bothering her. Preferably before we're already doing it."

Fauna slowly nodded. She perked up a moment later, waving to someone behind Alfonse. "Good morning, Sharena. Did you have a particularly nice dream or did you just not feel like getting up?" She gave the princess a playful smirk and waved her over.

"Well, it was definitely a dream but I wouldn't call it nice." Sharena shrugged, going to stand beside Alfonse. "Mother was there, Natheniel was there, some weird shadow thing was there… And I think the shadow thing was trying to talk to me but I don't really remember."

The last part caught his attention the most. "It's not a reoccurring dream, right?"

Sharena shook her head. "First and probably the last. Plus, even if it did mean anything, Natheniel's been gone for weeks—he's not coming back."

"But you said it yourself, there's a chance there's still a part of him here," Fauna reminded her. "Who knows when it'll decide to show up and do something."

"I agree with Fauna. There's not such a thing as too careful right now." He could tell his sister did not like his statement, but didn't remark to it.

"So, are we going to Enn's again today?" Sharena asked, turning to Alfonse.

"That was my plan. As long as you're ready and Fauna is willing to finish things up on her own."

"Yup! You two go visit Enn and I'll keep working," Fauna said.

"Well, I'm up, dressed, and I've eaten so…yeah I'm pretty sure I'm ready." Sharena turned around and began walking to the gate. "Let's not keep her waiting this time!"


	2. Chapter 2

{-Sharena-}

"Welcome, lady and gentleman! Please leave your weapons at the door, and remember not to look into anything with 'album' in the title." Enn started walking backwards to look at them as they headed towards the library. "Thought you two'd be here sooner, actually! This is definitely later than your normal study time. Honestly, I assumed you had a change of plans."

"I'm just glad you're letting us in after such short notice," Alfonse remarked.

Enn snorted. "Of course I would! You guys are the best. Plus, the library's pretty much open to the public so it wouldn't matter anyway." She turned back around, pushing open the library's doors and motioning them in. "Some of the books are still out from last time but some of the others have been put away."

The library's size had surprised Sharena the first time she was here. Just about as big as the royal castle's library (which was, suffice to say, huge) but lacking a second floor, it held just as much books—but instead of having a variety of genres, this one focused on a specific type: legends and history. The siblings often came here together for multiple reasons, since it showed to likely be more helpful than the royal castle's. Though they rarely ever came up with anything new.

"Did you find anything since our last visit?" Alfonse asked Enn.

She shook her head. "Forgot. But I hope you remembered to have your report on why nonfiction is better than fiction. I finished mine yesterday. Don't forget, if you didn't, I automatically win."

Alfonse sighed. "Right. I made the mistake of trying to prove a point." He looked over at Sharena. "Can you gather the books from over there and bring them to the table?"

"Sure thing, Brother." Sharena nodded and walked over to the area she knew she'd find the books.

Really, she hadn't as much as memorized how books were organized in a library as she did memorize where the specific books she was looking for where. Given she'd had no reason to use a library in her childhood, the need to learn where everything was never really arose. Not to mention "alphabetical order by the author's last name" just seemed hard for her to remember. Alfonse was the book person here, not her.

A familiar, discomforting feeling slowly came to her as she was out of sight and earshot of the other two.

After making promises to both Alfonse and Anna, Sharena was pressed to tell either of them when something happened or changed. Given her apparent ties to the nightmares, it was important to not keep whatever happened to herself in case it turned out to be something that could turn out to be not as harmless as she perceived it. And for a majority of the time, she kept those promises. She'd told them a while ago that she felt like Natheniel left something behind; what she hadn't told them was that she knew what it was and what it—or more specifically, they—looked and sounded like. With everything else going on, she didn't really want to give the others even more to worry about. It was also considerably weird and annoying to have everyone on top of her all the time, which was something she didn't expect to change soon but definitely wouldn't get any better if she told them that.

Sharena was confident that the thing Natheniel had left behind had been following her around. They showed up at just about every time she was alone, whether as a voice or just the body or both. She knew that was what was trying to talk to her in the dream she had last night, but she doubted that version was anything more than her mind's creation. She didn't know their name yet, but they didn't seem to know hers either, and their interactions were rather brief so there was never much time. Not like she was particularly fond of meeting the creature responsible for making the others worry about her more.

"How nice of them to give us some time to chat, don't you think?"

She chose to ignore the shadowy figure that had appeared beside her, and continued looking through the books.

"Come on, now…I just want to talk. There's something rather important I want to tell you."

"Go back to whatever hole you came from," she shot back. "Leave me alone."

They tilted their head, doing something very similar to a frown. "We both know we don't really want that. To be alone means to be afraid and to be afraid means to feel helpless. Neither of us want to be like that, do we? I know I certainly don't…and I believe that you don't, either."

What they were possibly implying did not sit well with her. "And you know that how?"

"I'm what the mortals of my world called 'near-physical manifestation of a nightmare,'" they began to explain. "So, to put it simply, I can sense the fears of those around me. Yours are particularly hard to ignore, by the way—and quite adorable, if I might add. Reminds me of Nathen. He was full of fears, too; it was because of those fears I exist."

This was the first time they really ever explained themself. Before, the only thing they ever really did was say or do something kind of creepy and call her "little dreamer." They'd also insisted she not refer to them as "it" as they found it mildly offensive. She'd only recently started actually doing it, though it wasn't like she really talked to anyone about them. But knowing a bit more about the thing that had been pestering her for the past month was both welcomed and unwanted.

"Who's Nathen?" Sharena already had a guess which would confirm the other theories she had about them.

"Oh, right, no one calls him that here…" They paused. "How to best explain this… You've actually met him, you know. That boy who came to this world a bit ago; Natheniel. I've called him Nathen since our humble beginnings. He's actually talked about me. Rather rudely and highly antagonizing if you ask me, but he did. I can ensure you, though…I'm nothing like what he made me out to be."

Sharena still didn't look at them. She didn't exactly know if she wanted to believe what they were saying, either, or believe what Natheniel had told her. "You're Lekra then, aren't you?"

They nodded. "Nathen's nightmare. We were close friends for a time, but both of our past mistakes taunted us and we grew apart. He was set on everything harmful I've done by mere accident, while I'm simply just trying to keep history from repeating itself." Lekra looked down for a moment, before glancing back at Sharena. "I've never properly caught your name. I mean, I think I've heard it but I'm not sure."

"Sharena."

Lekra smiled. "Finally, we're acquainted! But enough of that. I have something very, very important I need to ask you…Sharena." They said her name slowly, like they were testing it out. It was a bit unsettling. "Please don't yell—someone might overhear you and I'll have to go. With your permission, I'd…I'd like to take you on as my new dreamer."

It took everything in her not to shout "WHAT?!" when she heard their offer. They noticed her expression and continued.

"I was once tied to Nathen, and once we entered the world of nightmares, I was free to roam beyond what bound me to him. He refused to acknowledge me and, as such, he ignored me and rendered me completely unseeable to him. When he came here, I came along as well. While he wandered, so did I…but not for the same reason. I was growing desperate for someone to talk to. Someone who could see and hear me in the way Nathen had, that we didn't have to be alone. And then…then I found you. I recognized your fears and your dreams and was drawn to them. The first time I tried interacting with you was when Nathen told you about me. I'd hoped that, with me in mind, you'd be like him. Soon after, I realized that the two of you were alike in other ways and I continued to reach you when you had company. It worked. When I knew that Nathen had left, I felt myself…dying without him. After all, what's a dream if there's no one to dream about them? I can't help the feeling that you'll end up in a state of being similar to Nathen. I promise that I only want to protect you and your friends. I have personal experience with the nightmares and the other things to come. With my help, maybe…maybe you won't have the same fate as him."

Sharena felt torn between denying Lekra's request and gong to Alfonse and Enn, or learning more about what Lekra was asking of her.

"You don't trust me," Lekra muttered, sounding hurt. "I only want to help. Become my dreamer, and I can explain everything. Why the nightmares like you, why it's so important that your friends are aware of it…anything you want to know. I've got to warn you, though—sometimes the truth is a little too much to handle. Some things might not be easy to—"

"I'll do it."

((A/N: Okay, so, I've made a decision. Has anyone watched She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, far enough for a character named Double Trouble to be introduced? Lekra totally sounds the same as Double Trouble, you can't convince me otherwise. Try unhearing it now.))


	3. Chapter 3

{-Alfonse-}

He'd been horribly losing in defending the practical, sensible reasons why nonfiction was better than fiction (Enn was only winning because of her determination on proving him wrong, and probably because she declared herself the judge as well as a contestant) when Sharena came back. Immediately he knew something was wrong, but she didn't even give any form of explanation before passing out. Enn got a message sent to Anna and Fauna, which led to where they were now.

Anna was pacing from one wall to the other, muttering something completely incomprehensible besides the occasional, very clear curse.

Fauna watched her with an unhappy expression. "I regret waking you up," she remarked dully. "You really should've slept more."

"So, uh, would you like me to get you guys something to eat or something if you're all just gonna stand here..?" Enn asked. She added quietly, "Also don't pace a rut into Dad's floor…"

Eventually no one answered her so she stepped back towards the library. "I'll be in the library if any of you decide you need anything." With that, Enn left.

Sharena—who was on one of the couches in Enn's family's living room since it was closest to the library and taking her upstairs would've brought a bit too much attention—stirred for a moment before resuming her previous, still position. Alfonse could only hope that meant she'd be up soon.

"Was she acting weird this morning?" Anna glanced at Sharena, sighed, and sat down.

"Not at all," Alfonse replied. "She seemed fine up until the moment she staggered over to us. We were practically at the other side of the room so there wasn't any way we knew what had happened."

"She could just be sick," Fauna suggested. "She's faked being well before, so…there's still that possibility."

Anna shook her head. "I don't think it's that simple. Nothing has been that simple."

He recognized that tone. "Something you want to tell us, Commander?"

"Do me a favor and mind your own business," she returned coldly.

"Our business is kinda your business most of the time, so…" Fauna trailed off after Anna glared at her.

Sharena stirred again, this time actually sitting up. "I can confirm…that I'm definitely not sick. Just wishing I was given a bit more of a forewarning."

Anna immediately frowned. "Care to explain what happened, then?"

"Promise not to yell at me as soon as I finish..?"

"I'm not promising anything," Anna answered. "I'm already in a bad mood and I doubt this is going to change that."

Sharena nodded. "So…for a while, I've actually known what Natheniel forgot. It was his nightmare, Lekra. I can hear and see them like he used to. With Natheniel gone and no one else who shared his ability, they were drawn to me as the only one even remotely capable of helping. They were practically dying and they're really not as bad as what Natheniel had said they were. I believe that they just want to keep their promise and help us, and I agreed to help them."

"Gods, Sharena, there's a fine line between being nice and being a complete idiot," Anna pointed out. Sharena seemed to have been expecting that and just frowned.

"There's also a fine line between looking out for us and risking sleep deprivation…" Fauna shrunk a bit even though Anna ignored her.

"Knew it." Sharena didn't sound sad; just mildly annoyed. "You think I did a dumb thing—"

"THINK?! You don't just encounter a thing like that and go 'yeah, let's be nice to it' when you have no freaking clue what you could be getting yourself into! This isn't some kid you met at a village and decided to play with. This is how people get killed." Anna took several moments to recollect herself. "I hope you understand that you could've died. Eventually, it's going to be those small decisions that matter most. And when that time comes, we can't afford to lose anybody."

"I know what I did and I stand by my choice," Sharena confirmed confidently. "My mind's made up. I'm confident that Lekra doesn't intend on hurting us. They know more about the nightmares than I do…maybe they can explain why the nightmares pay so much attention to me."

From the way Anna froze, Alfonse could guess she knew the answer. Even if she refused to share what that answer might be. But when she gave him the "talk some sense into your sister" look, he just shrugged—he found nothing considerably wrong with Sharena simply wanting answers, even if he didn't completely agree with her admittedly rash way of doing so.

After a bit of silence, Sharena spoke again. "Lekra told me of a place we can go where all of us can see and hear them; they can tell you themself that they really don't mean any harm. It's not actually that far, around the river me and Alfonse played by as kids. There's crystals there that share similar properties or whatever to the nightmare's heart and the three of you would be able to see them like I do through the reflection. I forget how they explained how you'd be able to hear them, though. And it won't be the same thing so there wouldn't be any voices."

As one of the several connections Sharena had with the nightmares, the ability to hear the voices of the hapless victims contained in the heart. Alfonse had naturally been a bit concerned when he first heard this from Anna shortly after arriving from his quest with Enn, though the fact grew irrelevant when Natheniel took the heart with him. He couldn't help but wonder if she saw and heard Lekra for the same reason she heard the voices. Not like anyone knew what that reason was.

"Where we met? There's not anything around there but forest." Anna was clearly confused.

Sharena nodded. "On the other side of the river. There's apparently a cave somewhere."

"Wild animals live in caves, though…I dunno about the rest of you, but I'd rather not get mauled by a bear…" Fauna said quietly.

"You're good with animals, aren't you? I bet you could just talk to it and it'll go away." Sharena seemed rather confident in her statement. "Plus, Lekra showed it to me—it basically just looks like a mossy rock so unless the bear decided to try to go through the moss then it wouldn't even know it exists."

Alfonse had to stop himself from pointing out that all caves generally tended to look like mossy rocks from one angle or another. But he really couldn't blame her, since she practically only had six years worth of schooling out of the eleven years an average person would have at her age. And six was being optimistic.

"Bears are—" Fauna paused. "Actually, never mind." Smart choice.

"We could leave tomorrow," Anna suggested. "Then assuming you actually know where you're going, it should only take us a couple of hours."

"Lekra knows where they're going. I've never been there myself," Sharena corrected. "And I swear they won't lead us to our deaths or something. They aren't as bad as Natheniel made them out to be, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, and trusting something like that is totally a good idea," Anna muttered sarcastically. "Like this wasn't enough."

Sharena frowned. "It wasn't like I was told I had to be asleep for it to work, and that it apparently really couldn't have waited until later. You didn't all need to come, you know."

"And wait for you to decide when it's time to finally admit it? Hell no." Anna stayed blunt and a bit harsh in her answer. "I don't know if you've looked at your record of these sorts of things, but it generally boils down to 'just about the moment it's absolutely necessary.'"

"Alright, I think that's enough scolding for the day," Alfonse remarked dully. As much as he wished they'd be able to resolve the issue by themselves, he could tell Sharena was ready for the conversation to end and Anna likely wouldn't give it up as easily. He knew it wouldn't be the last they heard of the matter, either. "Let's just head back to the castle, gather what we'll need, and rest up for tomorrow."

Fauna was the only one to immediately show agreement. It took a few moments for Sharena and Anna to share the feeling. Without much more being said, they found Enn and bid her farewell before leaving.

((A/N: Is there something Anna WANTS to tell them? No. Is there something Anna SHOULD tell them? Probably. Is there something Anna NEEDS to tell them? Yes. Words matter, guys.

Poor Enn. Then again she kinda wanted to be thrown into this weird mess that is their lives so I guess that's kind of her own fault, huh?))


	4. Chapter 4

{-Sharena-}

They didn't really rush to be out by sunrise—at least she assumed they weren't, since she woke up on her own at the usual, past-sunrise time. It took her a moment to process the previous day's events and why Lekra was there. Several more moments were spent explaining to them why it was polite for them to turn around while she got dressed (turns out Lekra had never considered that since Natheniel apparently didn't mind them watching). By the time she was downstairs, Alfonse and Fauna were making sure they had everything and Anna gave instructions on what the Heroes should do while they're gone. They left soon after.

The trip began in silence, but it wasn't too long before the three engaged in conversation. Sharena wasn't really paying attention to what they were talking about, and she knew they were aware of that. Lekra was the one to keep her entertained as they walked; being at the back of the group, the others didn't really hear her what probably looked like her talking to herself.

"Oh, it's just lovely!" Lekra had taken on walking like everyone else, twirling as they spoke. "The floor gives off the most warmest of glows. And the walls! They're practically tainted mirrors. Darkly colored, but quite reflective and accurate. It might seem a bit unsettling at first, though. That appears to be the general gist of anything that involves my kind." They shrugged.

"They're just…careful," Sharena said. She understood the people they were actually talking about. "A lot has happened that you don't know about yet. Suffice to say not much of it is pretty."

"I—I think I heard Nathen saying something on the lines of that, once," Lekra remarked hesitantly. "He spoke a lot about his guardians; the stories they told him that eventually led to the web of lies he believed up until the end… I never really payed attention to their names and less times have I been given the chance to see them, though, so I didn't realize they were probably you. I've never felt this way with the Sharena of our world. It's quite puzzling, really. But I can find out later, if you'll let me."

"Let you do what?" she asked cautiously.

Lekra seemed to think of the best way to explain it. "There are secrets that can be revealed through forgotten memories. Things that didn't seem important when you first stumble across the information is given a new light when reviewing it in the future. Some things are disregarded as worthless and thus become forgotten, others are left behind as new memories are made, and then the rest have been forgotten for good reason. All of them can reveal truths that have been left behind as time went on." They paused, dropping the mildly dramatic tone. "Of course, recovering these lost memories means possible invasion of personal information. Anything you've done in your lifetime would be available for me to see."

"Wait, so you're fine with watching me get dressed yet you have a problem with that? Invasion of privacy and invasion of personal information generally falls into the same category." She didn't know if she wanted to be surprised or not.

"In my defense, Nathen only knew five women. Three of which were much older than him, one who was technically older but not, and the last was not only his 'cousin' but quite a bit younger. He ignored my presence most of the time and I doubt he even noticed I was there. Although I know for a fact that people tend to value their secrets, thus deducting you may value yours."

"I don't have much to hide," Sharena replied simply. She really didn't, not from anything she remembered. It was all pretty simple stuff—she wouldn't mind if only one person knew all of it. "How would it work?"

"Generally the only thing you need to worry about is being asleep," Lekra answered. "Then, since dreams are made from memories, the rest is just up to me to look for. And speaking of dreams, did you sleep well last night?"

She was a bit surprised by the question, but nodded. "Yeah, actually."

"Oh, good," Lekra sighed in relief. "I wasn't exactly good at it, but I was able to fight Nathen's nightmares in the past, so I tried to do the same for you. I'm glad it worked."

"Then I guess thanks are an order, huh?" She had to admit, she couldn't actually figure out how Natheniel had perceived Lekra like he did. They seemed pretty friendly to her and the only thing she could think of that could set someone off of that fact was their appearance (after all, they basically looked like a black, person-shaped silhouette with red eyes that kinda appeared to be open even if she was sure they were closed).

Maybe she should be more careful. She'd met people before that were nice to her only to gain her trust, and the minute they knew they had it they used it. A fair bit of them were people she honestly expected to know better. Most of them probably thought she wasn't smart enough to catch on to what they were really trying to do. And luckily for her, nothing really went extremely far; she always denied whatever request they had, much to the annoyance of her father, and was actually able to walk away from the specific circumstance without a lot of consequences. But Lekra wasn't someone who "just so happened" to be around her age and the son of one of her mother's friends. They could actually be a danger and she wouldn't have the ability to just leave. Yet…she knew that they were being honest in what they were saying. It wasn't an empty promise or something just to get her to trust them. It was a genuine, heartfelt declaration to help.

"No, no, praise isn't necessary. It's only natural; when a nightmare's dreamer is asleep, they gain a fair bit of power—while others may use it out of malice, I only seek to protect my dreamer. I know, now, what it feels like to almost die. And I hope you understand that the fact that I'm here today with a confidence that I will live on is all thanks to you." They shot her a warm smile. "However I can, I'll save and protect you from Nathen's fate. My goal is to keep anyone from ever being in his position again."

"Sounds like a pretty noble goal," she remarked, returning their smile. "I'm sure everyone'll get used to you eventually. Anna probably won't, but Alfonse and Fauna would be pretty chill with it as long as you don't hurt anybody. Or, more specifically, me."

"I really don't want to. Only in specific cases am I capable of manipulating objects so it shouldn't be a problem most of the time. I-if I do—"

"I know it wouldn't be on purpose," Sharena finished. "You might have trouble convincing Anna, though. She's, uh…"

"A bit protective?" Lekra guessed. She nodded. "I can tell. There's a fearful little thing underneath that shell of hers. Dare I say, between the three of you, you could create an army out of those fears."

"Just three? There's four." She gestured to herself, then to Alfonse, Anna, and Fauna ahead of her.

Lekra shrugged. "I excluded the brown haired one. While she does have many fears, few are given much concern. The weaker fears thus overcome the stronger fears in quantity and taking up more space of mind than usual." They paused. "Or, to put it simply, you can't build a moral after most of what she fears."

Sharena could believe that. But there was a bit of it that both did and didn't make sense. "Some kinds of fears are stronger than others?"

They nodded. "It's not a complicated concept. For instance, say someone had two fears: the death of their very close friend and stepping on a plant. Obviously, the fear of death would be louder thus considered 'stronger,' whereas anyone who honestly fears stepping on a plant is…quite pathetic, really, and considered 'weaker.' Stronger fears generally take up more of a person's thoughts and more often than not affect their behavior, though weaker fears don't do much of anything besides define their character."

She was about to respond when Fauna fell back to stand beside her. "We're about ready for you to take the lead now," she explained. "Since none of us know exactly where we're going."

"Oh, sure," Sharena responded. She caught up with the others and followed Lekra, ignoring whatever Anna remarked.


	5. Chapter 5

{-Alfonse-}

It didn't actually take long for Sharena to declare they were there, pulling back a bit of moss to reveal the cave's entrance. Initially, the space between the floor and the ceiling was low enough that everyone but Fauna had to duck under the entrance, but after a while there was enough room that they could all walk comfortably. Alfonse could tell they were steadily going down, oddly beginning to feel like the cave was familiar somehow. The feeling grew harder to ignore as they reached the final room.

He guessed it once looked beautiful, now only retaining a small sliver of whatever it previously was. It was similar to a dome in shape and the highest part of the ceiling was hard to determine. Countless cracks ran through the floor, with three large glowing pieces bordering the walls. The walls didn't look much better, as what was likely mirror-like crystals were now nothing but shattered glass except for a single pane directly in front of them; several of the shards of the others were on the ground, revealing an eery glow where they had been before.

"Exactly the kind of place I'd except a demon thing to take us," Anna remarked. "Dark, ominous, and practically screaming 'murder.'"

Sharena, however, didn't seem to be listening. Alfonse didn't think he completely was, either.

They couldn't have been here before…could they? It wouldn't be completely impossible, at least—it really wasn't that far from the royal castle so the two very well could've come when they were younger. Back when it was a bit prettier. But Sharena didn't remember coming here, and he knew that if he really was here before, it was with her.

"Just start going to the mirror that isn't broken," Sharena instructed them. "The floor's a bit like ice, though."

Fauna nodded and began her way other there. After a moment of hesitance, Anna did the same.

Alfonse immediately turned his attention to his sister, who was now leaning against the wall. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Lekra's freaking out about something, is all. They're talking about how 'she was here' but they're not saying who."

"What if I suggested…we already know who it is?" He had a feeling they did. The same kind of sinking feeling he had when he tried to figure out how this place was familiar.

Sharena wasn't given a moment to respond before another voice cut through their conversation.

"Ahem. I think this should work. How to test, how to test…" It took Alfonse a moment to realize it was coming from the only mirror that was still intact.

"We can hear you," Anna replied bluntly. "Just get on with your damn explanation."

The reflection frowned. "Aren't we an impatient bunch. I can tell you now, I really don't want to hurt any of you. Quite the opposite, really. But let me start from the beginning; it'll be easier.

"My life was simple, at first. It consisted mainly of waiting for Nathen to play. Six years passed and, well, he was given a gift. That gift locked me out of his world, out of his mind—left me to rot in nothing but darkness. There wasn't any light. I could hear what was going on but I couldn't see it or connect with him. I couldn't help ease the beginning of the suffering he carried up until the moment he was gone. Only once was I able to leave that realm of darkness, to warn Nathen's false family about what was to come. But it had been so long since my last interaction with the actual world; I didn't know what I could do, I panicked, and through an attempt to bring light to the death that was to come I only succeeded in getting Nathen in trouble and assuring all those lives were lost. I don't know how long I was in there until I saw that world again. Turns out, Nathen had lost the very gift that kept me in that world. I was overjoyed at the thought of making up for lost time, discovering what he was like now, learning about everything he'd done in our time away…until he left. I tried to get him to stay, but he wouldn't listen. He didn't care. I followed him into the world of nightmares, and learning what it was like to be completely free for the first time.

"Despite what it might sound, being free of Nathen was a complete disaster. Whatever attempts I made to talk to him was ignored. I was well aware he was beginning to grow unresponsive towards me, like many other people. My own creator was turning his back on me. Can I just…give you a moment to realize how awful that is? The life I put up with for countless years, being ignored and becoming nothing more than another nameless creature that he believed wanted nothing more than to destroy. I watched him give up hope, trying desperately to end what he thought he started with help of others. Do you four know how many other people have tried what you did? Hundreds of people have attempted but failed. Nathen's past wrongdoings haunted him more than anything else, and by the time you showed up, he was about ready to just let all that happen. When he came to this world, so did I.

"I didn't think, after being left in the shadows for all that time, I'd ever find someone like Nathen. Someone who feared and dreamed and lived. Someone who could see and hear me like he could. You could imagine my surprise, then, when I met your Sharena. And I know you don't trust me with her. That you think I'm just what Nathen told you I am. But I can assure you, Nathen was wrong. On many accounts. I heard what he told you, and what he didn't. There's another group besides the nightmares that are pulling the strings that he doesn't know about. I've seen his story play out and I know where it begins by heart—I'm saddened to say I can see it starting out with you. All I want to do is to keep you from doing what he did. When I felt the world fading after Nathen died, well, I thought I'd never have the chance to help anyone. But here you are! Just let me help you. I don't know what kind of bubble of denial you live in but I can tell you, the chances of you all surviving with the amount of knowledge you have now is very, very slim. I can change that. With my help, no one gets hurt. Preparations are almost finished, you know; clock's ticking."

No one spoke for a while.

"Fine. You can stay," Anna declared. She sounded a bit reluctant to say it, really.

The reflection seemed happy. "Thank you. I promise you won't regret it."

Fauna shuffled. "I just have one question. Is he really…dead?"

"O-oh, that…" The reflection nodded slowly. "Yes. He took the nightmare's heart and offered it to the same person who ruined this once beautiful place. Suffice to say, she didn't uphold her side of the bargain. Those few moments were the last I truly spent with him. I know that's what happened—if he'd left for another world, I would've gone with him despite being free."

"I gathered that you didn't, though. He told me that you've done things without him in that world." It was actually pretty thoughtful of Sharena to point this out with all of them listening so they could all hear the response.

The reflection shrugged. "Nathen believed that I still remained in that world up until its end. Although if that were the case, I wouldn't be here now. His guardians told him that; it was one of the many lies they used to assure everyone but mine and his well-beings and ultimately played a bigger role in what happened in our last few days there than our own abilities. But think about it. I'm only standing in front of you all now because he was here and he technically never left."

Alfonse had more or less stopped paying attention. He felt like he'd seen the person the reflection was talking about—the person who may have taken Natheniel's life and shattered the mirrors here. He felt like…he'd been apart of that process, somehow. Not so much as the one breaking the walls and floor but the one being used to break it. It wasn't pleasant to remember. If he was even remembering this and he wasn't just imagining it.

"Well, I should be going…I don't think this place can handle long conversations anymore." The reflection looked around a bit, sighing. "If you have any questions, you're welcome to ask me as long as Sharena doesn't mind answering for me."

Without pause, the reflection disappeared.

Anna started walking back towards the entrance, gesturing for the others to follow. "Alright, let's head back before it gets too dark."

((A/N: Why did I kill off Natheniel, you ask? Because I wanted to. Seriously I don't have the heart to kill anyone else in that possible future.

Friendly reminder: Fauna is just about a whole head shorter than Alfonse. You know the height difference shown between Alfonse and Sharena in the Book II opening? That's almost Sharena and Fauna's height difference. Believe me I have a little chart for it and everything.))


	6. Chapter 6

{-Sharena-}

Alfonse had, for some reason, convinced Anna to let the siblings and Fauna simply go to the royal castle for the night. Fauna opted out of joining and went back to the Order's castle with Anna.

They'd just crossed the river when they heard their names and someone politely asking her guards to leave the three alone.

"Alfonse, Sharena! Perfect timing. I was about to come get you." Henriette came up to her children, thankfully not hugging them this time.

Lekra just looked at her once before declaring, "She'd be a lot cuter if she wasn't old." Good thing Sharena was the only one who could hear that.

"Did you need something?" Alfonse asked thoughtfully. She could tell he was suppressing his desire to moan, too.

Henriette, at first, seemed to completely skip over his question. "It's actually been a while since I saw both of you, hasn't it..? Five months. That's almost half a year, you know. You really should pay more mind to these little things. One day, I might be dead and you'll both be regretting the lack of time you spent with us." Sharena doubted that, actually. "Well, anyway. I don't need something as much as I need the two of you to spare a night of your time. Maybe two nights, depending on how long it would take."

"Why?" Sharena knew that it was likely their mother just wanted to talk to them—she did that quite often which normally resulting in her taking Sharena (should she be unlucky enough to get caught by her mother) out with her to visit friends.

"Your father should be coming back home tomorrow and there's some things we need to discuss with you. My plan was for a quiet dinner with just the four of us, like we used to back when you were little. But if something comes up or it gets a bit hard to handle—which it very well could—we might have to separate it into two nights." Henriette sighed. "I understand it's on such short notice but it's an urgent matter that is better addressed now than when it's actually a problem."

Sharena immediately found so many things wrong with that request.

First, she knew for a fact that their father never left the castle. At least going very far from it and rarely being out for long. More often than not, he was either in the throne room or talking with the council about boring adult stuff. There was only two times she remembered him leaving for more than a couple of hours: once when Henriette decided it would be a good idea for the four of them to get out of the castle on a family vacation (suffice to say, that week was spent like normal except the scenery was a bit different), and the other for a reason she was never told. She knew, though, that it probably wasn't a good thing that he wasn't here now.

Second, the four of them hadn't done anything together in six years. When Sharena thought of the four of them eating together, she thought of the unbearable silence and annoyance as she could do nothing but listen to their father talk poorly about them right in front of them. She was convinced their mother always remembered things as being better than what they really were—given the fact Henriette often talked about it as if it was wonderful. Sharena didn't even think she'd be able to confront her father again. She barely wanted to before they were basically forced out of their own home. After this long, she didn't think she'd ever be able to just walk up to him. And she knew she wasn't the only one thinking that.

Alfonse seemed just as confused as she was. "Father was away?"

Henriette nodded. "It's about what we need to tell you. I'm surprised you didn't know; doesn't the Order have their own scouts? They would've come across his group quite easily."

"If the scouts have seen anything we weren't informed about it," Alfonse remarked, shrugging. "We'll speak with Commander Anna about it tomorrow."

"That's all I ask." Henriette smiled.

…

Sharena was woken up to the sound of someone almost tripping over her animal plushies. "Stop messing with stuff I wanna go back to sleep," she moaned.

"But I was able to get you breakfast," Lekra announced victoriously. "I went through your memories a little to get some context on your dinner. While I was there, I thought I'd see what your favorite breakfast was judging by what you looked like you enjoyed most in your memories."

"You can't hold stuff, though, so how did you..?" She sat up, and yawned.

Lekra shrugged. "A nightmare's most powerful while their dreamer is sleeping. Focusing some of the energy gained from sleeping to me, I was able to make you breakfast." They sat the plate beside her. "I wish you the best of luck for tonight, though. Seems like you and your brother are going to need it."

"Is it bad that I'm hoping some king-related thing pops up and it gets cancelled..? Or at the very least, he doesn't show up." That was probably very rude of her. But she couldn't help it. Alfonse was probably feeling the same way, just pretending he wasn't and mentally freaking out about it.

"I don't blame you," Lekra remarked honestly. "Though I know this is going to be important… I wouldn't need to explain as much, anyway."

Sharena ate her breakfast—a bit surprised at how good it was despite being technically made by a nightmare—and got dressed. She put the plate back in the kitchen and waited outside for Alfonse. Thankfully, he didn't take very long and they started their walk to the Order's castle.

Alfonse was the one to interrupt the silence. "I'm going to ask Father about the message we found… he was the one to send Enn's father out in that area, and there might be a chance that he knows what it is or what the writer was referring to. And the cave we went to yesterday; I know it's familiar from somewhere, like we've been there before, but I can't…" He sighed.

"Uh-oh." Lekra gave a puzzled frown. "I didn't realize..."

"Didn't realize what?" Sharena noticed her brother's confused look and told him simply, "I'm talking to Lekra."

Lekra did that kind of look someone did when they wanted to say something but couldn't. Or, that's what she thought they did. It was kind of hard to tell what their exact facial expression was. "Well… You'll figure it out tonight. Probably, if all goes well. Maybe tomorrow night. Depends how long it takes everything to sink in…"

Because that sounded really reassuring. The more people talked about tonight the more she felt way unprepared for it. She just had to keep thinking through scenarios and their father's rude comments in hopes she'd better be able to handle them when the time came. Of course, she's a lot less tolerant of them now than what she was when she was younger (having met Anna and Heroes who showed her what it was really like to make her own path instead of following another's plan for her). A few hours wasn't enough time. Maybe after a year of preparing she'd be ready—but right now, practically all of her was screaming about how she wasn't ready to go back, if not just for a night or two. The stuff she felt in the first eleven years of her life was something she never wanted to feel again.

"I'm sure it won't be too bad," Lekra assured her. "Imagine it as a fun little dinner party."

She decided to not point out how she didn't really like dinner parties, either. Too many stuck-up nobles who "knew" her and every guy around her age trying to flirt with her. Lekra seemed to stay completely unaware of this, though.

Sharena could tell already that it was going to be a long night.

((A/N: They emphasize the point it might be a lot to take in at once, yet only two paragraphs are devoted to the actual purpose of the meeting. The rest is setting up for something else that's going to be important later in the series.

These next few chapters might reflect my burning hatred of Gustav. I'm not apologizing.))


	7. Chapter 7

{-Alfonse-}

They entered the dining room as soon as they were ready, though were still last. Henriette smiled at them as they came in, but Gustav just stared at them and gestured for them to sit down.

"I'm not going to kill you," he remarked dully. "It wouldn't even hurt to look like you want to be here."

"Maybe you should take your own advice?" Henriette suggested calmly. "I don't exactly see you welcoming them warmly, either."

From Gustav's grunt, Alfonse guessed the siblings weren't the only one Henriette pressured into coming.

Him and Sharena took their normal seating placements—even if they wanted to sit somewhere else, those two seats were the only ones with a plate by them. It wasn't hard to say this would be the biggest meal they've eaten in a while. Politely waiting for both Gustav and Henriette to begin their meal first, they started eating shortly after.

Most of the time was spent in silence. He was aware Sharena wasn't eating much and she almost looked like she was fighting back the urge to cry; all morning up until the moment they came in she'd seemed anxious, like a caged bird. She'd also kept her distance from the Heroes which was the oddest part (he'd even spoken with Fauna shortly before they left to see if she'd been told anything, and was given the simple answer of no).

"You really should eat something, dear," Henriette pointed out, nodding to Sharena.

Sharena only shrugged.

"Let her starve if she wants to. I think she can survive not eating for a night." Gustav ignored Henriette's glare. "She'll have no one else to blame but herself if she's hungry later."

Henriette frowned, turning her attention back to Sharena. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Just tired," Sharena replied quietly. "Didn't really sleep well…" Alfonse couldn't tell if she was lying or not.

"Well, then." Henriette didn't sound very convinced. "You two have been doing well, I hope?"

Alfonse nodded. "Like always, Mother. A bit busy but otherwise things are fine."

"Has that blasted Summoner of yours died yet? That damn girl shouldn't be able to last a second in any real danger." Gustav earned a whack from Henriette. "I'm only asking a simple question, Hen."

"It's still not nice. You can't condemn the poor girl." She lightly whacked him. "She's done nothing to harm you."

Gustav looked like he could prove otherwise.

Alfonse sighed. "No, Father, Fauna's still very much alive. She's actually quite resilient." He wasn't surprised, though, about his father's lack of faith in their friend.

"There's not room in an army for a soldier who refuses to fight, Son," Gustav said. "Anyone who doesn't pull their own weight risks being left behind."

"She takes care of herself and others just fine. Just because someone can't fight doesn't make them worthless," Sharena muttered.

"Quite frankly, I agree," Gustav remarked. "Learning to fight can dull worth or increase its value. Simply depends on who it is."

Sharena wisely decided to drop that topic of conversation. "May I be excused for a few minutes?"

"Yes." Henriette was lucky enough to answer before Gustav could say the opposite. "Just don't take too long. We'll explain everything when you get back."

"Thanks." With that, Sharena abruptly got out of her chair and left.

The other three finished up their dinner while they waited. They were given an option of dessert, but only Henriette actually took something.

She got up as soon as she was finished. "I'm checking on Sharena. You boys be nice to each other." Henriette started towards the door.

"Hen, I really don't think that's a good—" Gustav sighed as soon as she left. "Idea." He shook his head.

"She did that on purpose." Alfonse was staring at the door, too, sharing his father's unamused expression.

"The woman thinks of we're alone we'd actually talk." They made eye contact for a single moment before looking back at their plates again. "Well, I suppose we're here now. Care to explain what the Order has been up to lately?"

"Not much, really—"

"Don't lie to me, boy. I know that you've been keeping yourselves busy in the past six months and it's not for nothing."

Alfonse simply decided to skip what they'd done before—he had a feeling his father would not like any of it. "Quite honestly, I'm not sure. Commander Anna has yet to explain her reasoning to us."

"She's more considerate than I thought, then. Anyone else would have simply saved you the trouble of coming here without recognizing the importance, yet she did not. Perhaps there's still a scrap of decency left in her."

"What?"

"Born a commoner, raised from nothing, building herself a title only to turn back on all morals when the going got tough. Though I suppose she has yet to sell you and your sister off to Embla so there's a chance she's redeemable." Gustav didn't seem too convinced in his own statement. "Definitely not the best example of leadership. I hope you understand that secrets induce distrust, and to have distrust means to be unstable—instability, in turn, leads to desperation and failure."

Alfonse understood what Gustav meant, he almost disagreed with it—in their current situation, for example, Anna was clearly keeping things from them…but they still trusted her like normal. They knew that she'd tell them when the time came; there wasn't a reason to convince her otherwise. But bringing up the point wouldn't help. "Of course, Father."

Gustav seemed to consider his words before asking, "If a time should come in your life when you must choose between your subjects and your friends, who will you choose? Completely hypothetical. No wrong answer."

Alfonse knew there was, in fact, a wrong answer. And he knew full well the one his father wanted him to choose. The option that had been drilled into his head for a good portion of his life, and almost gone to great lengths to ensure he felt the same. But to say it now would be a lie, feeling a bit like betrayal to whichever one he didn't choose.

Eventually he took long enough that Gustav assumed the answer, sighing. "Gods save Askr while you're on the throne. Try not to get the whole kingdom killed by the time you die."

"Well, I can assure you it won't be in flames the second you're dead." Alfonse couldn't keep the slightly bitter edge to his tone.

"And I didn't expect to be fighting a war nineteen years after it started yet here we are," Gustav pointed out bluntly.

They both stayed silent after that, until Henriette came back in. Sharena came with her and sat back down without a word. Henriette muttered something to Gustav and the two walked off to the corner of the room to continue a hushed conversation.

"Is the evening almost over..?" Sharena moaned quietly. "Sorry for leaving you. Kinda hard to ignore Lekra, deal with Father, and act like I'm okay to keep Mother from worrying all at the same time. I've already failed at one of those, though." She nodded to Gustav and Henriette.

"Just a bit longer," he assured her gently. "Maybe we can go back to the Order's castle if it isn't too late."

Gustav and Henriette came back and sat back down.

"There's a lot to explain and not really much time to make sure you're prepared for what's to come. Most of it we hoped you'd never need to understand. But the time has come for you know the hard truths that has stayed with the Askran royal line for generations…"

((A/N: Sometimes I wonder how much of my hatred for Gustav shows when I write him. There's a reason he's openly dissing on basically everyone in the main cast. Though, he's not particularly wrong in some cases...))


	8. Chapter 8

{-Alfonse-}

"One of you, at least, is acquainted with the event of your grandfather's death nineteen years ago. Though neither of you have been told the full story. Much more than simply natural causes was responsible. It actually began a few months before that—when Hel arrived. Hel was something no one had been prepared for; it was hard enough keeping her forces back, let alone without growing her power. With each death she grew stronger, being the ruler of the dead. Me, your mother, and a small group of allies were tasked with finding a way to bring Hel back to where she belonged. On the night we planned to use what we found, Hel took your grandfather's life in place of another's. We fought her off and got her out of Askr at the expense of many Askran and Emblian lives alike.

"It took months for things to get close to normal, even if Embla was revealed to have betrayed our trust with the portals. Several years went into understanding everything that truly happened. Hel wasn't the only one that entered Askr that day. There was another powerful force we never quite got rid of, Loki. She had a played a part in the loss of countless lives by that time; she showed a particular interest in both of you, but we didn't know why until you actually encountered her. She disappeared soon after that and stayed out of sight until recently. We have to believe she's returned to finish what she started. What, exactly, that is…we're not sure of, besides it involving you."

That didn't sound like it should be all. But Gustav's extended pause seemed to suggest such. Alfonse was just figuring out how he never heard about any of this before. Sharena almost looked like she was trying to ignore someone who was screaming in her ear and he realized she very well could be. Their parents didn't seem to pay any attention to this, however.

He knew this was probably going to be the best time to ask the question he'd had in his mind all day. "Yesterday, we found a cave by the river. I know we've been there before but I'm the only one who does and I don't understand how. Would you happen to know..?"

Henriette sighed. "Yes. Walls made of shattered glass and a cracked floor, right?" Alfonse nodded. "In all honesty, we hoped you would simply forget about that place and let it stay forgotten. It's where you and Sharena met Loki. An hour or so before then, I left you two unsupervised long enough for you to run off towards the river. You found the cave and encountered Loki—whatever creature she'd been caring for there was able to knock out Sharena but barely did anything to you. Loki, however, was not as harmless and did quite the damage. Before you passed out, she confirmed our fears about who she was here for. When you didn't come back at sunset like I told you to, we went searching and found you there the next day. Both of you were still unconscious for a good deal of the day but when you finally woke up, Sharena didn't remember a thing, though you seemed to vividly remember it all and we were able to convince you that it was just a fever dream; you were sick at the time so it proved as a reasonable explanation."

Maybe it was a good thing he didn't fully remember all of it now, then. It made sense, recalling what he'd felt at the cave, and he was able to piece together a bit more of what the reflection had told them. Loki was the one that broke the walls and floor of the cave. But if the reflection's story was right and Natheniel had given her the nightmare's heart…what use would it have to her? As far as Alfonse knew, the only use it had the ability to reflect who the nightmares have hurt. What significance would that hold for her?

He decided to try to push his luck a bit further. "And then a month ago, we uncovered an old message from some papers I'd found. I doubt it has any meaning now…'We were told we would be given time, but the only thing they had given us was loss. Tell everyone that we will not stand for this; we shall supply with our own the blood that our god desires. The time of silence is over, and when we are done, only the faithful and the truthful will remain.'"

"I TOLD YOU he'd find something he's not supposed to! Did you believe me? Nooooo." Henriette sounded so childish in that instance that it was hard for Alfonse not to react to it.

"I'm almost disappointed that you're surprised by this," Gustav replied dully. "He's always finding things he's not supposed to."

"Yeah, and he's literally sitting right here," Sharena remarked bluntly, waving at Alfonse.

Gustav frowned. "Maybe we're lucky you have yet to get married. You're a shameful example of the royal line." Sharena just returned his words with a defiant glare. "Not to mention a fine image of everything a wife and daughter shouldn't be."

Alfonse knew he wasn't letting this play out. "Father, with all due respect, we aren't here for you to try to make us regret our decisions." He couldn't help but notice the only thing Henriette was doing was looking sad.

"Dear, just tell them," she said softly. "What's done is done but that's no reason to avoid admitting it."

Gustav grumbled something before turning his attention back to the kids. "What you found was an old Emblian letter; sent from the palace to Askr to warn and prepare the Emblians living here. To put it simply, they believed we were withholding something valuable from them and they saw that as a threat. Once Hel was defeated they began lying about closing the portals. Both of you should know how that turned out."

It took him a minute to consider if he really wanted to know the answer before cautiously asking, "And…what was Askr withholding..?"

"There was something coveted by both Askran and Emblian royal families," Gustav began grimly.

Though hard to tell, Henriette muttered something that sounded like, "They're not ready for this…"

Suffice to say Gustav completely ignored her and continued. "For every boon there's a bane. The ability to go to other worlds was not given to us for free. You two carry dragon blood, as do I. It is a trait we share with all descendants of Líf and likely even Líf himself. Embla's not much different—they, too, carry dragon blood tracing back to their common ancestor, Thrasir. Such blood grants us our powers; but it is self-destructive in nature. When that nature became aware to our ancestors, they found a way to combat and control it. In time, both kingdoms treated it as nothing more than tradition, forgetting what it meant for the future of our kin. Unwilling to make the trip to Askr with the newborn, Embla inevitably caused their own demise and blamed Askr for it. That child had a short reign before committing genocide and, not long after, suicide. Yet they still refused to travel and requested the required materials came to them. When it did not, they accused Askr of betrayal. Between that misunderstanding and their betrayal to us was decades of relative peace; the general agreement was that they'd simply gotten over it and they never mentioned it again. Their lack of peacefully trying to talk about it was their own fault."

With that, Gustav got up. "If you're done asking questions, that's all. We can speak more about Hel and Loki when the time comes. For now, all you need to concern yourselves with is the preparation for their arrival." He nodded. "You're dismissed."

((A/N: Henriette, make up your mind! Do you want them to know or not?!

You might be happy to know that, in the next story, Veronica will openly curse out Gustav for the last explanation, despite talking to Alfonse. And with that said, a lot of the stuff said in the past two chapters become important plot points later in the series.

Also! I have a one-shot that Henriette talked about. Can I say, Loki is a jerk to baby Alfonse.))


	9. Chapter 9

{-Sharena-}

The night went better than she expected. No one mentioned Zacharias—which would have been a whole other argument—and there was a lot less downgrading than she'd been expecting. Back in the comfort of her room, taking the time to let the evening sink in, she realized she'd probably over-exaggerated the whole time. Then again, she knew better than to think everything would've been completely fine.

Sharena watched Lekra pace from one end of her room to the other, grumbling whenever they phased through one of the plushies.

"I'm thoroughly confused how so much of both of your rooms are cute-looking yet you're the closest connection to literally one of the most dangerous things ever," they remarked. "How did you even acquire all of these..?"

"Mother and her friends gave me most of them." Sharena shrugged. "It's been years since I actually did anything with them but I can't get myself to just give them away." She pointed to a large, purple-pink-white bunny plushie in the corner of the room. "That one's Mr. Fluffy Bunbun. He's big enough that when I was really little, I'd pretend like I was sitting on his lap and it kinda felt like he was hugging me." She waved to a bit more—a dove, raven, white heron, and black heron plushies. "Alfonse and Mother worked together and used those to make sure I actually remembered basic Askran history. They're Askr, Embla, Líf, and Thrasir."

Lekra paused, giving her the most confused look they were able to make. "Do…all of them have names?"

"All seventy-eight of them! At least they did. I forgot most of them by now. Mainly names relating to their appearance or type of animal."

"And why are most of them on the floor in your room here?"

"Because the room's really tiny and I put most of them here. I kinda took for granted how awesome bigger rooms were until a few years ago."

"Why are most of them facing the door..?"

"Oh. To ward off anyone that decides to come into my room in the middle of the night. Or to keep anyone I don't like out of my room. Normally it creeps people out, but I'm used to it. Plus I'll know if someone came into my room and messed with my stuff because at least one would be misplaced."

Lekra just stared. "Okay then… Sorry about earlier, by the way. I lost myself for a moment there, when your parents mentioned Loki; I know such careless actions on my end cause stress on yours. I have…mixed feelings about her."

"It's not really a problem now. I don't blame you—after what you said she did to Natheniel." She couldn't imagine being in Lekra's position in that kind of situation.

"No, no…it's much more than that," Lekra sighed. They floated over to sit at the edge of her bed. "See, I… Nathen wasn't the only one that brought me into existence. He alone doesn't have the power to do that. There was someone else. Her. She gave the push that was needed for my creation. For the creation of all the nightmares. The destruction of all those worlds. The suffering of all those people, of Nathen…of you." They laid back, staring up at the ceiling. "And to think I've hurt you even before I knew what I was."

"What?"

They basically ignored her. "What am I even doing..? I'm just going to hurt someone again. That's all I ever do. It's…it's what I was…made to do. I can't change fate, that much is clear. I thought I would have a chance here; to help, to have a clean slate and start anew and just show everyone I'm not like the others. I've already screwed that up." Their one eye she could see almost looked like it was leaking—the same color of red of their eyes was slowly trailing down their cheek.

Sharena recognized what they were doing. "Are you…crying?" She reached out to comfort them, only for her hand to go right through them. "I can't touch you…"

Lekra let out a bitter, saddened laugh. "Of course you can't. I'm not real. Not like you are. Just like a dream, I'm really nothing more than the imagination. They called us 'near-physical manifestations' for a reason—besides needing a nicer, friendlier-to-Nathen way to describe 'monsters.'"

"Was there more nightmares like you?" The plural sense and them saying "us" threw her off. She'd thought Lekra was the only thing like that.

"A few, though created differently. I was the first and the only one originating in an innocent mind. The rest came a few years later. They were exact images of what she really wanted. They were born from fear, often tied to a specific group or person, and wanted nothing more than the suffering of others. Mindless little things. Would do anything if it meant the destruction of another. It's almost funny. We were considered the most sentient of the nightmares—lacking a physical form but possessing the power of individual thought—yet most of us didn't consider to think for themselves. And now they're all gone." They sniffed, sitting up and giving her a weak smile. "Get some rest."

…

"A present?! FOR ME?!"

"Yes, for you. Go on and open it."

Don't do it. It's not what you think it is. Please.

"It's so pretty…"

"And it's yours. Why don't you try it on?"

NO. NO DON'T DO IT. DON'T LEAVE—

…

"What ARE you?"

"A bit rude, don't you think? I just want to help."

"Yeah, right."

"I'm being honest! You've got to get your parents. Please, people are in danger you have to—"

"Like I'd believe something like you."

…

"Just…just leave me alone! You've hurt enough people, haven't you? I don't want you. Go back to whatever part of hell you came from."

"I didn't do any of that, I keep telling you! Why don't you just listen to me?!"

"Because listening to you got people hurt. 'Everything would be fine,' you told me. Do you remember that? Do you remember what happened after that? What about how she got hurt? How you hurt him? All you ever do is hurt people."

"You may have given up on me, but I haven't given up on you. I can't lose you. Not like this…"

"Well, suck it up and deal with it because you know what I want? You to leave me alone. Forever. I don't care what you think. I don't care what you try to do. Just never come back."

"But—"

"You heard what I said. Do whatever you want. I'm not playing your games anymore."

"Where's that little boy I remember? He never would've let me die here."

"Gone. Like you should be."

…

"You could've killed her!"

"This wasn't my idea! I didn't even know about this! Why do you think I'd do that?"

"Are you listening to yourself? That's all you ever do. You kill and hurt people—my friends and family. Do you just think you can waltz into my life and do whatever you damn well please?!"

"No! I just—"

"Then why are you still here?"

…

"I have what you want. Now you keep up your end."

"I'd love to, but, well… Ah, how to phrase this in a way you mortals can understand… I need you dead."

"W-what?!"

"You said it yourself; those things are just attracted to you. If you leave you'll still leave an impression on this world. The only way to stop it is to kill you."

"That wasn't our deal!"

"Why, yes it was. You wanted all nightmares out of this silly little world. The only way to do that is to get rid of it's source—you. It's nothing personal, really. You didn't care what happened to you, right? This shouldn't be a problem."

"No. I'm not—"

"Whoops! I guess that settles our little deal."

"Y-you…"

"You'll have to speak up, I can't hear you through your pain. Well. I should be going. Be lucky it wasn't bloodier, is all I'm saying."

…

The steady knock woke her up. "Sharena? Are you up..?" Alfonse. It must be morning, then.

"Yeah! Just let me get dressed!" She barely noticed Lekra intently watching her. "Uh…Lekra, remember what we said about turning around..?"

"Oh, right." They politely turned around, facing the door. "So… Have any dreams last night..?"

"Just these weird voice things." She paused. "Wait a minute. That was you, wasn't it?"

Lekra shrugged. "You got me. I…wanted you to know more of my point of view. It's like revealing your memories to both of us, but instead it's just my memories to you. Nathen blamed me for a lot of things. Pinning the blame on someone else…I guess it just let him avoid the truth. For his own faults he ended up like that. No one can run from themself; only a matter of time before all those lies finally catch up."

((A/N: Yes, this means Sharena has plushies named "Woofy," "Foxie," and "Snowy," along with tons more dumber names that five-year-old her thought was cute. There's also the return of Mr. Fluffy Bunbun. To be fair, if I had had a stuffed animal large enough to do that, then I totally would've.

I'd love to hear your guesses on who was saying what in the memory-dreams!))


	10. Chapter 10

{-Alfonse-}

He was aware of the mixed look Anna gave them when they arrived at the Order's castle, even if she waited until they came to her to talk.

"So..? How'd it go..?" she asked cautiously. "I mean, you don't look like a nervous wreck to I'm guessing it wasn't too bad."

"No one died, if that's what you're asking," Alfonse answered dully.

"No one really yelled, either," Sharena added.

"And he didn't…say anything..?"

Alfonse mainly understood Anna's confusion; what she knew about Gustav wasn't exactly all praise. Or…anything good, for that matter. For someone who'd never actually seen the three of them interact, she had a pretty accurate guess on what it was like. It was a bit of a surprise that she actually agreed to let them go—it wouldn't have been the first time she'd stopped them from a possible encounter with their father.

Sharena shrugged. "Nothing that wasn't expected. Dissed Fauna then had the nerve to go on about a person's worth. As if talking like he's always right all the time would make what he's saying true."

"There's no point in trying to please him. Plenty of people like you two just the way you are." Anna paused before giving them a reassuring smile. "I do. Fauna does. He did. Who cares what the king thinks you should and should not be?"

Alfonse recognized the "he" she was referring to and was immediately both concerned and surprised. "Are you feeling alright? You never talk well about Zacharias anymore."

"I'm just telling the truth," Anna pointed out. "Now tell me what they talked to you about to make sure we're all on the same page."

He gave the general rundown of what had happened, leaving out everything past Gustav's initial explanation and keeping to a quieter tone. Sharena eventually wandered off towards Fauna and some of the Heroes, joining them inside after a bit of conversation. By the time Alfonse was finished, him and Anna were the only ones in the courtyard.

"Both of you took it pretty well, then?"

Alfonse nodded. "Better than Mother thought we would." There was more, though. The last thing Gustav explained still didn't make complete sense to him yet. It almost felt like there was still more being left out.

"I don't…particularly agree with them waiting this long. Even if it wasn't a problem, and especially if it's something they'd rather let the world forget."

"You knew?"

"Helps that I know people who were in the army at that time. I've been waiting to see if your parents would have enough sense to tell you now or not. It's something you needed to hear from them." She waved around them. "What else do you think all of this is for? The Order's finally close to what it was…they're gonna need us, whether they want to admit it or not."

He considered asking her about what Gustav had said about her. It was likely he'd just said it out of spite with little to no support to his claims—but there was something to it that made it seem like the truth. There's only one way to know for sure. "Father mentioned you yesterday."

"Huh. Thought he basically pretended like I didn't exist," Anna responded casually. "Guess that's just how—"

"He actually nearly complimented you, before he turned it into an insult. Almost talking like…he knew you."

For a moment, she looked a bit shocked. She quickly regained a nearly unreadable expression, though. "Well, yeah. I hung around the army a lot when I was younger. It's admittedly where I learned everything I knew about you two at the time. He hated me then, too; didn't like how I won a fight against someone twice my age with barely as much as a scratch."

"Can you please tell me you're bluffing." What Anna said she'd done was more than Alfonse ever could—often times he'd been thrown in with the army for many different reasons and, more often than not, the only thing he learned from them was that they were extremely rowdy and enjoyed teasing him about being younger. He wasn't surprised that she'd interacted with them (and quite honestly he could definitely imagine them getting along considerably well) as he was that she won against one of them.

"I'm not. Being short has its advantages, you know." She smirked. "Why? Jealous?"

"No." Alfonse debated going further into what Gustav had said. "Father had said that you 'turned back on all morals when the going got tough.'"

"The dastard's stuck in his own ways."

"That's not the reply I was looking for and you know it." He could tell, even if she hid it well, that he'd touched a sensitive subject.

"Is there a chance I can not answer, then? It's complicated and long and—"

"True?" It wouldn't be half as bad or mildly alarming if she'd just give him a straightforward answer.

"If I told you that you already know what it is can we drop the subject?" She seemed to be getting more annoyed as the conversation went on.

Alfonse still maintained his calm tone despite Anna's failure to do the same. "That doesn't clear up anything at all so I'm going to have to say no."

"Well, that's the closest you're getting to an explanation to you're going to have to deal with it." She wasn't even trying to look at him anymore. "Just understand that whether it was right or wrong depends on who you are. Everyone here believes it was what had to be done; that it's right. By now you should know, though, that a good portion of the kingdom has other opinions."

Anna left without another word. Right when he felt she was actually close to telling him something. At least he had a pretty good idea of around the time it happened—the same time she mainly refused to talk about in general.

He was only reminded of his father's final warning on the matter. "Secrets lead to distrust… distrust becomes instability, and instability…" Alfonse sighed. Maybe there was a current comparison to Gustav's words after all. "Why now, of all times? You couldn't just explain one thing, could you..?" He knew Anna was out of sight by now and definitely couldn't hear him, but it only made him wonder what she'd say if she was in earshot. Or if she'd just act like she didn't hear it.

Something gave him the feeling that this was going to be a long year. Assuming they made it through the year. It wasn't a thought he wanted to dwell on; what awaited them in the nearby future, how they'd handle it…if they'll be able to stay together. At the current rate of things…it wasn't going to be simple or easy. It might not even be possible. He just had to hope he was wrong.

((A/N: I'm trying to match up the adorablely dorky Anna that appeared in When We Were Young with what she said she did and it's like trying to stick a circle peg in the square hole—that is, it COULD fit if it was the right size.

Alfonse will carry around this mindset for just about the rest of the series. He's over here having war flashbacks and almost no one else cares. Anna actually kinda-yells at him for it. Poor Alfonse.

As you might've guessed given the ending of this chapter, this is the final chapter of this story. There's no bonuses this time since both of them are more abstract than what I'd like. Next month as of posting this chapter, I'll start poting the next story—Of Life and Death, Book III retelling, with a mildly different chain of events and ending.

Tell me what you thought of the story! I know it's short, but it's supposed to be a quick refresher of the story so far. Want to support me? Then follow me here, and give my other FE stories a read! Would like to see my art, concept sketches, character refs, and small comics about this series? Check out my DeviantArt, puppy-luvr06! I have an Ask the Characters up, featuring every character mentioned in this story plus a few, and hope to regularly submit stuff for this series. Don't have a dA but want to ask a character something or request art featuring these characters? Just PM me on here and I'll send you the link when it's finished! Thank you for everyone who reads this story and supports and motivates me to continue!))


End file.
